I’m a hardware junkie and keep a keen watch on the latest gear from the Microsoft Hardware team. The latest Windows 8 related device was announced today in the form of the Sculpt Comfort Keyboard, an ergonomic keyboard featuring an enlarged split spacebar and an optional backspace functionality.
What’s with the split keyboard and backspace you may ask? They’re the result of research that showed 90 percent of people use only their right thumb to press the spacebar and the backspace key is the third most pressed key on the keyboard. So we did two things
- Increased the width of the spacebar to make the bar easier to strike.
- Split the spacebar to make use of the neglected left-hand side as an extra backspace key.
There are a number of other ergonomic features of this keyboard that you can read about on the Microsoft Hardware blog and News Center. And, as you may expect, the Sculpt Comfort Keyboard is optimized for Windows 8 with quick access for Search, Share, Device and Settings as well as an updated Windows key.
Available soon at the online Microsoft Store and other participating retailers. Estimated retail price is US$59.95 – I’ll have a personal road test soon!
